Reflective Journal on Change Management Unit

Introduction

As a future HR practitioner Change Management as a unit in my Human Resources Management course is perceived as a very crucial part in effectively accomplishing my studies. This unit has given me a better knowledge about change management strategies as we as an HR professionals and future managers have to last and adapt in this fast-changing world. There are many things that I learned about organizational change from this unit that I personally believe will help me improve and develop my chances of success with change interventions in my future career. Organizations nowadays are changing rapidly to compete in the market. Managers are adapting different changing leadership styles to implement change and achieve goals to bring success in the organization.

A change agent is an individual who promotes and empowers change to occur in an organization. In simple words a change agent is person who promotes and supports a new way of doing something within the business, whether it's the use of a new process, the adoption of a new management structure or the transformation of an old business model to a new one. Therefore, they need to possess some interpersonal abilities and skills to make sure that the organization is successful.

Change agents should have different skills such as strong communication skills, ability to prioritize and to build relationships etc. A change agent operates a distinct responsibility within a change initiative as an advocate of the change, as well as a channel between leadership and the rest of the organization. An excellent change agent can help smooth resistance to change and address the issues before they derail an initiative and, thus, can help ensure the successful implementation and adoption of a new project. What I learned from this is that it is really important to perceive every solo element causing of influencing change. Change agents pay attention towards situation, atmosphere, marketplace, competition and the culture of the organization. They should be patience and flexible towards both positive and negative impacts of change because sometimes change can bring both peace and madness to the organization. Change agents are capable of implementing change largely in many areas such as the Structure of the organization, the Physical Setting of the company including the technology and People of the company. Organizational change is all about making transformations in the organizational structure, authority and hierarchical structure, job redesign, and several other structural variables. Change in technology infers a change in the systems, approaches, processes or best practices or the way of working itself. Change in the physical setting implicates a change in the plan and also the spatial arrangements. Change agents also facilitate a change in the attitudes of individuals, abilities, performance and also their perceptions.

Changes in an organization can be very constant and ongoing. Therefore, Effective Change management practice help organizations to understand the change in their customer’s needs, demands and expectations much better since the requirements are well described.

Working in team helps to encourage deep learning that occurs through communication, problem solving, negotiation, collaboration and alliance (Johnson & Johnson, 1995). In this unit I learned a lot about teamwork and why it is so important to work in groups. Groupwork helped me realize that I had a responsibility towards my fellow team members and that the success of our project was built upon each member’ contribution towards the group. While working together me and my team members were always happy to help each other even with our differences.

Moreover, we were looking out for each other because we were in a team when one member was stuck in the project we would reach out for a helping hand because we had to work together. While working in a group I made sure I interacted with the members and shared my ideas and experience with them to encourage them to participate energetically. This experience helped me gain a lot of knowledge about teamwork and the importance of working together. This opportunity gave me the courage to overcome many barriers. Working in a team with people from different background helped me recognize that every individual is different, their personalities

And way of thinking is different from me which helped me show consideration for other members, As I respected and supported them and their decisions through the entire journey. My role as a team member of the group I contributed to finish the project effectively and successfully.

Teamwork is really important to accomplish a task. Working in team made studying and doing assignments efficient and fun. I learned that Working with other people enables you to pool your opinions and see problems from various perspectives. In a group setting, you can challenge missions that could not be accomplished by working individually. Group works combines a variation of skills and knowledge to tackle more complex and greater scale complications. When we were working towards our report in the given time frame our group work allowed us to analyze our report to a greater depth and breadth which was impossible if I was working individually.

Additionally, group work gave me the chance to learn from others. There were many advantages from working with people for example: analyzing, discussing and exploring my own ideas and questions with my team helped me gain feedback from them and helped me improve. Accordingly, completing the project was not an easy job, However, with all of my team’s determination, we set out our targets and accomplished our objectives.

Change, ethics and the impacts of ethics are all essential part of an organization. Organization faces a range of ethical issues during change process, which necessitates analysis ethical issues surrounding organizational change. Nevertheless, in many change models the aspect of ethics is not existing. Lewin’s change model, ADKAR model nor Kottler’s 8 step change management model focuses on ethical matters. These above models should be presenting factors affecting change and change management and should be all-inclusive valuing the organization’s culture, structure, stakeholders and leadership styles as well.

Ethical viewpoints are really important as they control change resistance in the workplace whenever it affects both the managers and staffs. Ethics positively influences on numerous stakeholders such as individuals in an organisation as it has the role of satisfying the CRS of the organisation vis-à-vis its employees. It also helps change to last longer.

Morals decidedly or adversely impacts on the organization. In reality, when leaders use power and legislative issues, it impacts change management process. They are viewed as being narrow minded. This is unethical, and it absolutely impacts the internal and external stakeholders. Along these lines, managers must guarantee that the stakeholders and partners are not affected. Leaders should to be straightforward and attempt to look for individual profit, utilizing their position. Additionally, they should to do the correct things by instilling right values in the organization and they should separate between what is ethically good and bad. Typically, when managers are not following the same ethics and morals as their subordinates in the organization, this morally impacts on all partners and even the association (Bashir and Afzal, 2008).

Change process can sometimes face ethical dilemma in the organization. It can turn out to be an ethical problem when an organization pursues change from its current culture that stakeholders are well familiar with to a new culture that the leaders consider to be more efficient. When changes set in the shareholders may have to redefined relations and responsibilities which may trigger resistance. Sometimes stakeholders try to sustain the organization culture they are used to, whereas top leaders seek a revamp (Hwang &Wang,2013) this may cause a problem in the changing process.

Change management can take many forms. It can include a simple policy change, a technical change, a personnel shift, an organizational change, or anything subject to change from a previous state. In order to avoid resistance towards change every employee, managers and stakeholders who directly or in directly gets impacted by the change should equal involvement in the change process. The approach used to implement the change is just as significant as the change itself.

I learned a lot of new things working with people from different background. In my group I was the only person from Nepal. Working with other members from different cultural background made me realize that we are all both different and similar in our own ways. I learned to respect another people’s culture. Working in a diverse group will not only help me now but will also help me enhance my communication skills in the near future.

I am a very shy person by nature but being a part of a diverse group, I overcame my shyness and interacted with other members to prove my point and share my ideas to finish our task successfully. I believe I have become more patience than I was before. Earlier in the beginning of the semester as all of my team members were from the same country “Bhutan” they used to keep interacting in their own language out casting me which made me feel really uncomfortable at first. Later, I told them that it was a bit uncomfortable for me and they respected my opinion and started interacting in English, so I could be a part of the conversation as well. This situation made me realize that when you are working with people from different culture you have to be upfront and honest and make the other person know how you are feeling. I am really thankful that my group members were openminded and understanding. Though we may share things in common with other individuals, at the end of the day, everyone is their own person and can bring different things to the table, which is why diversity is so important among a team. I learned a lot of things from my group.

I learned that working alongside with people from different backgrounds, experiences and working styles, creative concepts can be born from bouncing ideas off of each other and offering feedback and suggestions. Whereas one person may be great at generating exciting, innovative ideas, another individual may have the necessary experience to execute it. As more diverse ideas are suggested, the chances of finding a workable answer are improved. With so many different and diverse minds coming and working together, many more solutions will arise as every individual brings in their personal way of thinking, operating and solving problems and making decision.

Personal development for me is planning the process of creating a plan for self-improvement. My personal development strategy is of great importance to me as it will help me grow and familiarize myself with my strengths and weakness and give me a chance to improve them. Moreover, it will guide me regarding my future goals.

Therefore, what I am planning do to is to set both my short term and long-term goals considering my skills, accomplishments, Knowledge and career. Then, I need to set a deadline to attain my goals and objectives. If I need help, I will be approaching other people for help.

Firstly, I want to improve my communicating skills and Time management skills. I learned a lot of things from this Managing Change Unit and it gave me a realistic view on the professional world. When I was working on our assignments and with our group, I certainly learned that changes can affect an individual in both positive and negative ways. There are several reasons depending on the organisation, its people and the change agents as well. The ADKAR model may be of countless help to guide me towards my goals. As this model highlights on awareness, desire, knowledge, ability and reinforcement, it may lead to me to success.

Firstly, I need to be aware of my aims and objective, then see how strong my desire is to develop myself, what knowledge I have already about the issue or topic I want to improve on. Additionally, what are the abilities I have to fulfill my plan and finally what I need to reinforce that plan, what can be done to withstand it?

Therefore, if I want to succeed in my personal development plan, I need to bring into line the goals I set to fulfil.

Conclusion:

In conclusion to this reflective journal, change is something that very human. Being and organization goes through with time. It is an important factor that every employee and stakeholders take in order to compete in the market. In order to keep the change process smooth change agents, play a very significant role. Ethics and morals are vital in managing change which sometimes can bring both positive and negative impacts on the shareholders and stakeholders. Moreover, Teamwork and diversity is also equally important to manage change and in today’s challenging world. I also learned that in order to achieve one’s goal you should have a proper development plan and strategy to guide and concur your real-life goals.

References:

1. Juneja, P. (n.d.). Change Management - Meaning and Important Concepts. Retrieved from https://www.managementstudyguide.com/change-management.htm
2. Hwang, K.P., Wang, M, -K. (2013). The impact of ethical issues on privatization: Employee perception of HRM systems, job satisfaction and organizational loyalty in the Taiwan telecommunication industry. African Journal of Business Management, 7(6), 381-400.